Bond’s Birthday week!

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When Bond and I met I was a major birthday diva and he found this a comical thing that he didn’t really understand.  My family go HUGE for birthdays, they love to celebrate and make a big fuss.  His family are more laid back about the whole thing.  6 years on and I have been usurped, the birthday diva of the family now is most certainly BOND!

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This year he announced he would have a birthday week, this was so important we had to stay up till midnight to say ‘Happy Birthday week’. The morning of his big day he had a croissant in bed with candles and icing, in the afternoon he had another cake and then in the evening I cooked lamb chops at his request.  Then he made the foolish mistake of travelling which robbed him of two days of his birthday ‘week’.  On his return we had more cake and candles and yet more of my culinary prowess – again at his request…since he discovered that I can cook even though I hate it he has been finding ways to get me back at the oven!!

For the real celebration I booked dinner out at a great restaurant with a fab view so we could enjoy sunset while we ate.  KWINT has a fabulous view over Mont des Arts which is meant to be the site of the best sunsets in Brussels. On arriving at the restaurant they told us they had no gas and thus no food!!  Anyway we rallied, had a cocktail and watched sunset and then headed to another spot for dinner which worked out really well in the end. I am lucky that Bond is a good sport and didn’t get upset that the original plan didn’t work!

Au Vieux Saint Martin was fantastic, great and well made proper Belgian food with fabulous service and in a great location.  We had a lovely time and enjoyed eating good hearty food before walking home.  I would thoroughly recommend it, their Flamant stew was especially good!

For the rest of the weekend every meal had candles and then on Sunday negotiations were attempted for an extra two days to make up for the one he missed out on!  These failed I am sorry to say…we were out of cake and candles!

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Bond’s last hurrah!

This week Bond flies off for the Marathon De Sables run that he is taking part in.  If you haven’t heard of the event it’s called the ‘Toughest foot race on Earth’ and honestly that doesn’t seem like an exaggeration.  Basically every day this mad man (along with a few hundred others – be aware they walk among us!!) will wake up and run a marathon throughout the Moroccan desert.  Over the course of a week he will have run/walked 250KM in the heat carrying all the food and provisions he will need to survive.  My little foodie will survive on only energy bars and freeze dried food that he will have to cook himself on a little stove.  On Friday we got all of his stuff ready, this involved decanting the freeze-dried food into smaller bags and organising all his meals by days and calories.  The MDS people are very serious about the calories the competitors have with them.  They must have at least 2000 Kcals but preferably closer to 3000 Kcals and each bag must be labelled with the contents and calorie count.  Then somehow you have to pack all of the food and other bits and bobs into an improbably small bag!  Anyway with some effort and clever packing we managed to get it all in and so he is good to go. The bag is so heavy I can’t lift it!!!  I have to admit that I am in awe of him doing this whilst also questioning his sanity.

In order to make up for this hideous endurance test we decided to have a relaxed couple of days finishing off with a lovely dinner last night.

We headed to Poco Loco on the walk as I had heard good things and it’s always fun to try new places.  On the way over we stopped to watch the Beach BMX competition, which seemed to be a few men throwing themselves around on bikes/scooters while extremely loud music was played.  Bond thought it was cool but I have to say it wasn’t really my thing.  Once Bond had his fill we walked on to the restaurant.

Poco Loco is a Latin American restaurant with a great terrace overlooking the beach.  There was also live music when we went, I don’t know if that’s just for the weekend though.  The interior decoration is very nice and the atmosphere is also lovely.  Initially we sat outside but it got a bit chilly so we moved inside (we both failed to bring jumpers!).  Having read the menu we decided to get a few things to share.  Soon melted cheese sticks, tacos, chicken skewers, king fish skewers and beef skewers and corn on the cob were delivered to us.  The food all looked very appetising but sadly it wasn’t very warm which let it down a bit.  The melted cheese sticks were definitely the highlight for us, and I would be keen to have them again.  The rest of the food was yummy but nothing to massively rave about.  My friend tells me that the main courses are the highlight so if we go back we will have to try that.  The other let down was the service, the people who served were very nice but they were almost impossible to find.  In order to get the bill we had to ask the cleaner if he wouldn’t mind finding us a waiter in the back as we couldn’t find anyone.  Our guacomole never turned up which was a shame but they did remove it from our bill with no fuss.  All in all we had a good time but it won’t be top of the list of places to go.

From Poco Loco it was cake o’clock according to Bond and so we headed to Vintage which is the home of decadence. His highness decided to go all out for his last big treat and ordered a pecan and chocolate fondant cake with an Aztec hot chocolate on the side.  The fondant cake was delicious, Bond enjoyed his Aztec hot chocolate but I found the chilli a bit much!  I went for ‘chocolate delight’ cake and an Almond joy to drink.  The cake was pretty good but I had to concede Bond had won the ordering.  The almond joy drink was FANTASTIC,  they say it’s a milkshake with almonds and coconuts but there has to be more to it than that because it’s soooo delicious!!!

Having stuffed our faces full of chocolate we went to the market on JBR to check out the wares.  Bond was VERY determined to get me a gift and so he treated me to the lovely dress you see in the picture!  I am a lucky girl indeed!

All in all it was a lovely day and I hope that Bond felt it was a suitably fun send off before this tough race!

These signs at the market made us giggle…sorry for the poor photo quality though!!

 

 

 

Ladies who brunch!

On Friday I met up with the other two musketeers and a friend who was visiting S.  We decided to go to the Westin for their Bubbleicious brunch and what a great decision that proved to be!  They serve yummy fizz and all manner of food.  The sushi was a particular highlight, they have professionals making it live and it really was so fresh.  From sushi to lobster and oysters we really did well on luxury sea food!  Then we moved on to the lovely salads all of which were to die for.  Then moving from there we had mains – my highlight were the arancini balls.  The others said the truffle stand was their favourite though and I have to agree the eggs with truffles were fantastic!  Then we moved on to cheese, there were two HUGE tables heaving with every kind of cheese you can think of.  I am a cheese fiend and I had a big plate of every variety that I love.  The pork table was also impressive, I didn’t even know that many types of salami even existed!

The desserts deserve a whole paragraph because they were so incredible!  I could have drowned in all the chocolate cakes they had, each one better than the last.  There was a chocolate fondue, both dark and white chocolate with every sort of fruit and naughtiness you could dip into it.  For those who aren’t chocolate mad there were macaroons and eclairs of every possible flavour as well as fruit tarts and cheesecakes. Once we were satisfied with these treats we found another secret room of treats!!!  You go through the curtain and end up in a ‘mad hatters tea party’ with yet more cake…my absolute find was a green cake that tasted of marzipan but was sponge, I don’t know how they did it but I must must find it again one of these days!  They even had dry ice which they were using to freeze vodka.  It was quite a bizarre thing but it looked cool.

The whole brunch was spectacular from start to finish with every sort of cuisine you could imagine.  They even had lots of different cocktail stands, including a Hendrick’s gin booth!!  I am eager to go back with Bond so he can see what he thinks, I suspect he will be a fan.

After brunch we went to Oeno wine bar to have a couple more drinks and some dancing! There is always a fun vibe there and they play great cheesy music to dance to.  We got our boogie on to all the old favourites which was great fun!  At around 7 I left the others to it and headed to meet Bond to watch movies (more on that in another post!)

If you live in Dubai or you’re planning a visit then definitely do hit the Westin.

Having a blast in Berlin

From London I went over to Berlin to see my lovely parents.  Both my mother and father decided to have end of the year health scares so I was really very relieved to be going to see them!  Dad had something called an ‘ablation’ to the heart and my mother was told she required a pacemaker. Fortunately both are recovering well and with 2016 in full flow they are working on getting 100% better.  My dad has even made a foray to the gym…pretty impressive stuff!

I now desperately want to see this film!!

We managed to pack a lot into the trip but also had some lovely time just relaxing the three of us and spending quality time together.  I really love being in Berlin with them as it really feels homely.  On the first night we had a chilled evening at home eating all my favourite foods, my parents had hit the deli hard and I loved all of it (especially the multiple types of salami!!)  The next day we took mummy for a doctor’s appointment where I learned things are done differently in Germany.  The doctor was fantastic and he sat us down and explained every stage of the process to the point dad and I felt we could easily have put the thing in mummy ourselves!  He really did a great job of putting our minds at rest and even set the appointment to be convenient for all of us!  Amazing service all round!

Following the doctor Mummy and I went to do some light shopping and had an all important nutritious and delicious chocolate breakfast at Fassbender and Rausch which is Germany’s eqivalent to Neuhaus!  Truly it is a gorgeous store and the cafe is lovely.  The waiter was so helpful and even went out of his way to make sure my hot chocolate looked beautiful in spite of my not wanting whipped cream.  The cake was to die for and I think that chocolate breakfast should be mandatory!!  The next challenge is getting that gorgeous chocolate bear back to Dubai!!

In the evening dad met us and took us for dinner and cocktails at Einsteins which is my favourite Berlin hang out. The staff are all really knowledgeable and the food is divine!  Dad and I shared an apple strudel the size of my face that tasted like heaven. The whole evening was great fun and it was nice to do something light hearted after our trip to the doctor.  We managed to stay there till closing we were having so much fun!  The history of Einsteins is fascinating and well worth a read.  As you walk through the door you walk over the two gold pave stones that honour the Blumenfeld’s who committed suicide during the holocaust.  It’s very poignant to realise that while this house has happy memories it is also the site of some real tragedy.  Berlin doesn’t shy away from it’s dark history and instead chooses to honour the dead as best it can.  You see these golden stones all over the city and it always gives you pause for thought.

On Tuesday my parents threw a party so I could meet some of their friends.  During the day mummy and I went to a few of her happy places in Berlin.  There is a street near hers with all second hand designer clothes shops – there were some gorgeous things and mummy kindly got me a pair of stunning MaxMara sunglasses that are my new favourites.  We also checked out ‘Broken English’ which is a store that sells all English products, even food and drinks that you can’t get elsewhere.  The lady who runs it was so lovely and it was fun to explore the stuff they had.  Later we went to be made pretty by the fabulous Mariusz, he is a genius with hair!  He has now got me started with all new shampoo and conditioners which should help undo the damage of the horrible Dubai water.

At around 7 people started to arrive for the party which was GREAT fun, my parents have made some really lovely friends all of whom were charming and so lovely about my parents.  There was a nice mix of ages too as my friend M lives in Berlin and she came and a few of my parents friends have children my age…so we all ended up sitting together in the ‘naughty corner’ which made us all feel about 15 in quite a nice way!  It really was a great night all in  all and it makes me very happy that my parents have made such great friends already in their new city.

On Wednesday Dad and I decided it was time to get our shop on for mummy…we hit what felt like every store on the KuDamm and had many adventures before we found the perfect items for madam.  I am not sure we can show our faces at any of the stores we went to as ‘decisive’ wasn’t really the name of the game!  That said many hours of work later we found the perfect gifts and mummy seemed very happy on the big day!  The highlight of the shopping trip for me was stopping for chinese food.  Dad and I hadn’t had lunch just us in far too long so it was nice to chew the cud and really catch up.  The restaurant he chose was brilliant and served sumptuous dim sum which is something Dubai seems to lack.  All in all it was a really lovely day out and I even enjoyed gift wrapping in the evening!

Ours is the envelope!

On Thursday we decided to spend the day locally and checked out some fabulous shops near my parents.  They had very kindly decided they wanted to get Bond and I a joint Christmas present and had settled on a piece of art from a local art gallery.  They wanted my approval and help in choosing the perfect piece.  It took quite a while to select the ideal piece and I absolutely love it.  I definitely recommend checking out the artist.  My parents also bought Bond a really cool glass, it has a special base so that you can spin it without it spilling!  So clever and original. Berlin has fantastic shops if you are looking for unique one off pieces.

In the evening we went to Tugra for amazing Turkish food – it was all delicious.  I enjoyed every bite and now I am determined to find an equally good Turkish place here!   The restaurant was also lovely and the staff were utterly charming.  We had such a fun evening and Mummy and I even enjoyed an Aperol Spritz which brought back fun memories of my last trip to Berlin.  I am adding Tugra to my list of ‘must go’ places!

Christmas day saw us at the Regent Hotel which was the perfect spot to celebrate the big day.  The pianist played beautifully and all the food was perfection.  There was everything that you could possibly want to eat.  My highlight was the delicious brownie with apricots – the texture was lovely and the flavour was ideal.  I really enjoyed every moment of being there!  After lunch we headed home for present opening.  It’s always a highlight watching everyone opening gifts and seeing if you’ve made good choices!  I think that my parents were happy with their gifts, especially the painting I commissioned of the view from our London flat.  I loved all my presents too and we all felt thoroughly spoiled and lucky to be together!

Boxing day was total indulgence at the Adlon spa, my dad had decided to treat all of us to some pampering.  Mummy and I each had a La Prairie facial and dad had a massage.  The facial was amazing, I felt like a new woman afterwards.  The whole process was relaxing and I left glowing!  They even gave us a lovely bath oil as it was Christmas.  Then mummy treated us all to lunch in their restaurant.  I had the best burger ever, it was totally decadent.  Dad had to go and do some work so mummy and I decided the best way to kill some time was to eat cake!  I had the most increidible marzipan and chocolate cake.  Every bite was to die for good.  Just sitting here now I am reliving the moment!

In the evening we decided to just relax at home so I could do some packing and relax with the lovely Tuxedo who as ever was loveable and gorgeous.  He really is so cute!  The last evening is always sad because it means soon I am leaving which I always hate.  The worst part of living abroad is not getting as much quality time.  Still we are all happy in our new locations so we have to take the good times when we can!

Sunday sadly I had to depart back to Dubai but not before my parents filled me full of good hearty German food!  We went to a traditional German restaurant where I ate a MASSIVE wiener schnitzel, it was so big it kept me going for many hours while I travelled.  Naturally I thought it would be rude not to have yet more marzipan cake which is my new obsession.

The flight back was uneventful until I landed to find that BA had lost one of my suitcases!!   It was totally maddening…a week later I finally got it back and as yet BA have still barely apologised and have proven that Terminal 5 deserves it’s reputation as a black hole for luggage…not to end on a ‘low point’ though I truly had a fantastic time and I can’t wait to see my parents soon…this time in Dubai as they told me they booked their trip this morning!!  WOOHOO!!!

 

Wowee Waldorf

Friday was my turn to spoil Bond. He had asked for something really relaxing and so I decided that a spa trip followed by high tea was probably the best option.  Here in Dubai Spas tend to be segregated, the only thing you can do together is to have a massage.  I thought that a whole day being in seperate steam rooms and sauna’s would be rather a shame for an anniversary.  Naturally I turned to google and found that a few spas in Dubai have come up with the perfect solution – a whole suite for the couple.

The Waldorf Astoria is said to be the best and so I booked us the whole package – you get a body scrub and a massage as well as a foot treatment.  We got to the spa and filled in our necessary health forms and then we were led to the VIP suite and given the tour.  Everyone we came across wished us happy anniversary and were so excited to celebrate with us – by the time we got to the suite I already felt really happy and relaxed.

The place smells sensational, they have Serge Lutens fragrances spritzed everywhere and it smells a bit like I imagine heaven.  I  was seriously tempted to but it for myself but I have so much perfume at the moment it’s a bit out of hand!

The suite is HUGE, you have two massage beds, a hamaam slab and a jacuzzi tub as well as a private steam room, sauna, an ‘atmospheric shower’ and very chic changing rooms with super luxury robes.

You start off with tea and then you can use all the facilities before you get to the treatment portion.  You start with the foot treatment were they scrub and massage your feet.  Then you have a full body scrub to make all your skin silky soft before the proper massage.  Honestly the massage was so good that I actually feel that it corrected my posture and cleared the tension that I had in my neck and shoulders.

The whole experience is luxurious and decadent and having that privacy is lovely too.  I really enjoyed it and I would definitely reccomend it to anyone!

Having been pampered to within an inch of our lives we headed for high tea.  On arrival the staff all wished us Happy Anniversary and led us to a lovely table with a great view. They rolled over the special TWG tea trolley so we could smell the tea and decide what we wanted to have!  It was really fun to see them prepare the tea in this very smart way.  The Waldorf Astoria has two types of ‘tea’ – the Parisien and the London…nautrally we chose the London!  We got lovely sandwiches, scones and mini cakes as well as fruit salad.  It really was all delicious, and the presentation was beautiful.

 

At the end of tea they surprised us with a lovely cake that said ‘happy 3rd anniversary’ which just sealed the end of a perfect day!

Perfect Pierchic

Flowers from my parents and Fizz from the Tomcat who brought it over from London with her!

Thursday evening was Bond’s surprise for our anniversary – he planned it a few weeks ago and has kept saying that I would LOVE it so I was very excited by the time I got home.  I quickly arranged the beautiful flowers he sent me in a vase as well as the lovely bunch from my parents and then got ready for the big night. I put on my favourite black dress and some nice sparkly heels and jewellery and then Bond arrived for present opening. I had got him a few nice treats which he seemed really happy with.  I was thrilled with my Ipod shuffle and super swanky headphones, he had loaded the shuffle with music and audiobooks.  He got it because I am having trouble sleeping and so he thought audio books would help me to relax and unwind rather than TV shows which are too stimulating.  It turns out to have been an inspired idea because I now sleep soundly!!

We soon hopped in a taxi to the surprise venue, when we got to Al Qasr hotel I knew we were in for a lovely evening.  Al Qasr is a gorgeous hotel that is known for being very luxurious.  We got into a little golf buggy and drove through the whole resort which was great as I didn’t realise just how big it is!  It’s truly a stunning place!  When we go to Pierchic I was all smiles!  It’s known to be the most romantic restaurant in Dubai and I soon realised it deserves that reputation.

You walk down a long bridge in the ocean with a great view of the Burj al Arab and then arrive at the main place, it sits on stilts right in the ocean.  We had  a lovely corner table and as it was cool the windows were open so we could enjoy a lovely breeze.  The waiter we got was wonderful and attentive as was the waitress who was helping him out.

Not such an innocent cup of tea!

We started with brilliant cocktails, I had the Naomi and Bond had a Hendrick’s ‘Elixir of Longevity’ which was served in a teacup!  They were both delicious and we realised we were on to a decadent evening.  I decided to start with the lobster bisque which is my favourite thing ever, there were huge chunks of lobster in the bisque and it was totally delicious!  Bond was daring and had Ceviche with Jalepono’s which he said was delicious and fresh.  For the main course I had seafood risotto which was perfection and Bond had the sea bass which was delicious and perfectly flavoured.  We had a bit  of a break and then moved on to the all important desert – I had apple tart with Praline sauce and Bond had the panna cotta.  The apple was absolutely wonderful, I usually go for chocolate puddings so it was a nice change to go for the fruit option and it really was exemplary.

 

 

The lovely staff then surprised us with a cake that said happy anniversary which was so sweet and made us feel really special!  Having indulged ourselves handsomely in yummy food we moved to the bar for one last cocktail overlooking the amazing view.

Pierchic was so wonderful, totally romantic and perfect to celebrate a special occassion.  I can’t wait for our next excuse to go back!!

What a jam-packed visit!

Bond’s mother came to visit this weekend and boy did Bond plan a full schedule for her. She arrived on Thursday morning and mother and son headed off on a bus tour all around Dubai while I was at work.  It seems that the big hit of their day was the Museum where they learned all about the great history of the U.A.E.  Much hilarity from Bond’s sisters who refused to believe there actually is any history at all here.   They were rapidly put in their place though, who can argue with a whole museum after all!  I would tell you more but I missed out and mostly I heard about the jokes…they said it was very interesting though!  I will have to check it out and report back.

I met up with them after work and we toasted my finally passing the driving and his mother arriving for her first ever trip to Dubai!  Then on to dinner at Frankie’s.  It was typically wonderful, the food was delicious and the music was terrific.  Plus we managed to hit the happy hour so saved money on lovely wine and cocktails.  Bond’s mother was very impressed and happy!  Plus we got her hooked on Margherita’s – clearly I am a very bad influence

The next day was our chance to show off Dubai at it’s blingiest!  Naturally this meant a taxi to Downtown to see the all important Dubai Mall.  Everyone is always amazed at how big it is.  Even though they know it’s the hugest mall in the whole world it’s still pretty awe inspiring when you see it in the flesh!  We tackled a few of the stores before showing off the ice rink and indoor fountain (obviously vital in all malls) and then we decided that we had to have a bite to eat.  The mall does tend to make you ravenous, I think it’s the sheer scale of it!

We had a quick bite at Markette, which is a lovely little bistro style place.  Bond and his mother decided to go for sweet crepes but as I don’t really love those I was all virtuous and had a quinoa salad with beetroot paste and aubergine.  It was really delicious! Once suitably nourished we went to the Aquarium to meet the new king croc that has recently been moved here from Australia.

Bond and I have never been to the Aquarium before so it was fun to have a new experience with his mother. The aquarium is HUGE and holds a large array of fish, including forty sharks and massive groupers!! The first thing we noticed is that you can quite easily identify whether a shark is a male or female, to be honest I really felt that we knew those sharks a tad more intimately than we would ever want to!  You are literally a foot below them in a tunnel, which is quite unnerving.  It looks like they are napping on top of you!    It’s quite amazing to see to be honest.  Upstairs is a zoo that shows all the animals native to the UAE.  There were even two barn owls who were beautiful and several iguanas and chameleons who were spectacular.  I also really enjoyed the otters who were having lots of fun, though they wouldn’t go on the slide which disappointed Bond somewhat.  There was a large array of tropical fish, my grandmother used to have a big aquarium of them so it made me happy to reminisce. I sadly take awful fish photos though…Feeding time was announced so we watched the King Croc eat a chicken – he had to leap up into the air to get it which was quite a sight to behold as he is 6m long.  I learned that Crocodiles are faithful for life to their partners, which made them a tad more endearing.

As well as seeing all the animals we were also able to go ‘backstage’ and learn how the aquarium operates which was really interesting.  They grow their own coral and breed sharks so we were able to see shark shells.  Each shark has a totally different shell depending on it’s breed.

Under my feet are sooo many sharks!!

This was the only ‘posing penguin’ because it’s moulting season and it transpires penguins can be a tad vain!

While it was an incredible thing to see and there were penguins which you know I LOVE I do wonder how kind it is to these animals.  I am always a bit conflicted by animals in captivity, while I do love to see these animals up close and personal and get to learn about them I do worry if it’s cruel.  I am planning to do some research once I have written my blog – I would love to hear your opinions too!

Soon it was time to head to Atmosphere at the Armani Hotel in the Burj Khalifa.  This was something else we hadn’t done before so we were super excited too!  The Burj Khalifa is stunning from the outside and Atmosphere lives up to it.  We arrived at the hotel and were escorted to the special lift up to the bar where we were led to the table by the window that Bond had pre-booked.  It really is a stunning place, and I failed to take nearly enough photos of the inside because we were far too busy enjoying the view and of course the cocktails.  The bar has a minimum spend so we decided to grab a starter as well so we weren’t totally blitzed on the potent cocktails.  Bond’s mother decided it was the highlight of her trip and I can totally see why.  There is something seriously cool about having a drink at the highest bar in the world…and it helped that they were really delicious!

How cute is this? They gave it as a surprise!

After the drinks we moved on to Souk Al Bahar for dinner at Mango Tree so we could show off my beloved fountains!  We were actually quite full after our yummy Atmosphere starters so we decided to just get a few more appetisers and another cocktail.  Bond’s mother said we had converted her to cocktails!  We saw three rounds of the fountains, including the fantastic Thriller by Michael Jackson.  There is something most amusing about fountains dancing to Thriller.  Bond’s mother LOVED it – but then who doesn’t love those fountains!  I took a video but honestly it is so poor, you should youtube and see if anyone has done a better job…

On Saturday genetics won out and Bond and his mother proved they are both a tad odd and headed to the beach in the most mental temperatures!  Once they had their fill of the sea and sand Anne and I decided it was time for some pampering so we went to the salon (well not Bond of course…) I got a mani/pedi and Anne had a facial which sadly was a bit disappointing.  Mehr Mah luckily didn’t disappoint me and my talons look good – the girls even said how much my nails have improved so I am very happy.

Later it was decided that mother and son would go and meander around the walk and then meet back at mine for a home cooked meal.  Clearly they were very brave…because I am not a hugely gifted cook.  Thankfully a while ago when I was still living in London a really old school friend of mine came over to teach me how to make a tagine.  I pulled up the e-mail from her with all the details and followed it religiously and thankfully it turned out all right!  Both Bond and his mother said I did a great job and I had laid a nice table too.

All in all it was a lovely visit and we managed to sell Dubai!  Now Anne is on the way to Australia to meet Bond’s soon to be niece/nephew – so exciting!!

So many surprises!!!

Since Thursday evening till Yesterday lunchtime my whole weekend was out of my control – Bond declared that he was taking care of my Birthday and would be making all the plans!  For a few minutes I was a tad worried becasue I am a bit of a control freak, I quickly snapped out of it though because I knew he would plan the perfect thing that I would love!  In fact a friend joked that he would probably treat it like a military campaign which was definitely the best approach…it’s safe to say that I tend to be a bit of a birthday Diva so it was a big deal to hand over the reigns! Fortunately I was right and my friend hit the nail on the head, this birthday was perfectly organised from start to finish!

I was told that I had to be ready to leave my flat at 7.30 and that I had to be suitably glamorous and that was all I knew.  I even had to put my hands over my ears in the cab so I couldn’t hear where I was going, to be honest I thought he was going to pull out a blindfold!  When we pulled into the Four Seasons I knew I was in for a real treat, the Four Seasons just opened here in October last year and has a fantastic reputation.  Everyone I know who has been loves it and I was so excited to be there!  We went to Nus’ret which is the hot new Turkish restaurant.  I was so thrilled because it’s all about meat and I am a bit of a carnivore! We had amazing spaghetti steak, it’s really thin and tender steak and was absolutely delicious.  Then we were served an ENTIRE rack of lamb, they brought it over to the table and carved it up for us – honestly I have not seen that much meat in my life!  Amazingly we managed to eat nearly all of it and luckily still had space for Baklava Birthday cake.  They brought it over on a gorgeous plate decorated with ‘Happy Birthday’ in chocolate and then they sang for me too!

Yummy!

This is the chef who posed for me, which apparently he hates to do…I only found out after taking the snap!

Baclava – you get a slice of this with special Turkish icecream smeared on it…so delish!

After dinner we went to Hendrick’s bar, it really is beyond cool. The decoration is similar to an English Gentlemen’s club but with a Dubai twist.  It’s very chic, and somehow we managed to spend two hours sat there chatting!  Bond had the most insane cocktail, it was served in a jug that was full of smoke – it was incredible and looked like a potion from a mad scientist’s lab!  Apparently it was delicious too but it was a whiskey based one which I don’t really enjoy so it was a tad wasted on me, but the berry mojito I had was really yummy!  Eventually we did have to head home though!

The next day I was sent to get my hair and nails done at Mehr Mah, I really felt like a princess being totally fussed over by the ladies at the salon.  They were all so excited for my birthday which was lovely, by the time I left I felt like a million dollars!

Later in the evening Bond had brought champagne with him along with all my lovely presents and we had fun opening all my gifts.  I was BEYOND spoiled and everything he got me was totally perfect!  I felt very lucky!  Once all the gifts were opened I was ushered into a taxi to yet another secret location.  On the way there I actually managed to guess where we were going still that didn’t matter as the big surprise was when we got there! I turned the corner in Loca and several of my friends were sitting waiting for me, I couldn’t believe it!!  It really made me feel so special that people made the effort to come and celebrate with me.  Now that we have been here nearly a year it is great to know that I have really got good friends who value me – I really felt so lucky!  Everyone made a big effort to make it a fun night and I couldn’t have enjoyed myself more!

On Saturday I had a lovely skype call with my parents who had enlisted Bond in sending me some stunning flowers.  They really are beautiful and look lovely on the window sill.

All in all it is safe to say I was spoiled rotten and I feel very lucky and happy!!  Now I just have to hope Bond likes his surprise too!!

Simple pleasures

I read a blog a while ago by Single Slummy Mummy about Simple Pleasures.  I have been reading most of her blog since discovering it and really recommend it, it’s funny and thought provoking.  I really enjoyed reading about Jo’s simple pleasures and it made me want to write about mine.  I definitely think that we don’t spend enough time considering the little moments that make us smile and it’s all too easy to get bogged down in the negative.  As one of my simple pleasures is actually writing this blog I thought I would use it to share some other things that make me smile!

1) Getting text messages – especially ones with good news!  I now hear everything via e-mail or text and so they have become way more significant.  I was one of the first people to hear my friend was finally pregnant after a rough time conceiving and she text me to say it was all going to plan…it will be one message I keep forever!

2) A good book – especially by a new author, then I can find even more things by them to enjoy!

3) Take away arriving rapidly – in Dubai I have had to wait hours at times and it can really ruin a relaxed movie night in, now when it comes promptly it makes me inordinately happy.

4) Whatsapp calling – a new feature that means I can now spontaneously call home and surprise my mother!  Also I can call my best friend and plot her move to Dubai…some of these plots are getting rather outlandish to be honest!

5) Making countdown calendars…only 24 days till Berlin!!

6) A really good cup of tea…which according to my new international friends out here makes me a ‘stereotype’.

7) A new episode of a favourite TV show – Modern family anyone??

8) Walking along the beach – I always laughed when people put that in their dating profile but it is actually lovely…now I too am a cliche!

9) Cake, biscuits or chocolate or actually licorice – in fact any kind of naughty treat!  These are especially good if they are purchased for me, gift calories clearly don’t count…I mean surely it would be rude not to eat them!

Finally:

10) Hearing Bond laugh, it’s infectious!

What are your simple pleasures?  I would love to know and I am sure that it will make you smile just to think of them, it worked for me in any case!